Billowing clouds of gray cigarette smoke outside academic buildings have prompted Western officials to tell smokers where to take their habits.

But some smokers still wonder why administrators are trying to quarantine them and their nicotine.

Designated smoking areas will be implemented soon after the completion of a campus-wide study conducted by a Staff Council subcommittee and the allocation of money to buy signs to mark the areas.

The idea to create designated smoking areas arose from staff members’ complaints, said James McCaslin, Staff Council chairperson and Glasgow campus coordinator.

“Staff members had concerns that they brought to the council because every time they walked in or out of a building, they were walking through clouds of smoke,” he said.

Staff Council proposed in October 2004 setting aside designated areas where people on campus could smoke freely without bothering nonsmokers, McCaslin said.

President Gary Ransdell supported the idea and suggested Staff Council members look into the problem. A subcommittee emerged to examine the issue, McCaslin said.

The subcommittee was commissioned to find appropriate areas for smokers and evaluate how much it would cost for designated areas.

Staff members had been bothered by smoke in their offices for a long time as people lit up next to building doors or near air conditioner intakes, said Lauri Warden, subcommittee chairperson and office associate.

When subcommittee members put together a list of suggested designated smoking areas, they took those factors into consideration, along with the flow of traffic and closeness to shelter, she said.

Denver freshman Austin Melton said he wishes smokers would stay further from the buildings, so he doesn’t have to walk through a constant haze on the fourth-floor walkway near his Grise Hall classes. The walkway will soon be marked with a “no smoking” sign.

But Bowling Green senior Kris Upchurch said he may not abide by the coming signs.

Upchurch defended his right to smoke anywhere he wants with economic theory he learned in his Economic Law and Public Choice class.

“Nobody else has any more right to the air than I do,” he said. “As long as I’m not smoking inside, I’m not sure I would stay in one space or another, to be honest.”

Committee members submitted the proposal to facilities management in April 2004, about six months after the committee was formed, Warden said.

Tom Riley, facilities management leadership program specialist, reviewed the information and submitted a funding request.

Ransdell has already allocated the $12,000 needed to purchase the signs, according to Chief Financial Officer Ann Mead’s office.

Funding will come from Western’s contingency fund, McCaslin said.

The signs cost more than they might normally because they had to have Braille print in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, he said.

The signs will include 121 signs marked “no smoking” and 34 signs marked “designated smoking area,” Warden said.

Besides the signs, the money will go to pay for smoking urns and urn covers to equip the areas, as well as the labor to install the materials, she said.

Facilities management is in charge of buying and installation, though the subcommittee made suggestions on purchases, Warden said.

Reach Amber Coulter at news@wkuherald.com.